Stranger into Starman Lyrics

Lyric discussion by jbradforda 

Cover art for Stranger into Starman lyrics by Aimee Mann

"Starman" = a David Bowie reference? I'm not sure how one converts the word "stranger" into the word "Starman"... i would assume the lowercase g would be difficult to make look like a lowercase m.
But "star rats" is definitely a palendrome. But i'm still confused as to the meaning of the song.